Night 2 of ADE can only be described as a true marathon night. We spent the evening club hopping from venue to venue with some true world class talent!
We started out our evening at the Apple Store. Seriously. As we were walking to the Melkweg theater, which was just a few short blocks from our apartment, we passed by the store, which was blasting music, full of dancing people, and intense stage lighting. We dropped in to investigate to find out that it was none other than freaking HARDWELL dropping an actual hardcore (although hardcore remixes) set! This was not our typical festival cheese and seriously caught us off guard, although, sadly, the sea of video recording phones did not. Of course, it was the last 2 tracks, so we skipped out as the final cheers were happening, and walked around the corner to the Melkweg. When we walked up to the venue, we realized that the show was sold out ages before! The venue was packed to the brim, but we managed to score a spot on the balcony. It was hot and sweaty, and we danced our asses off for a couple of drinks until it was time to roll out to venue #3.
We took a quick Uber over to the sold-out Luminosity party at Panama just in time to catch Markus Schulz on the main stage. This was a slightly older crowd than at Melkweg (is trance the classic rock of Europe?), but still, the venue was incredibly packed and enthusiastic. There was some refreshing ice cannon action to take the edge off of the sauna-like atmosphere in the club, so we didn’t melt like we thought we would on entering and observing the floors and walls sweating like a 1990s rave in the summer. Vassy dropped in to sing Tomorrow Never Dies, which was on point live. After a few more tracks, freaking Ferry Corsten dropped in, and finished off his set with a tag team. Mind blown? Not yet. Up next, Paul Oakenfold was on the mainstage, and was played a hard-hitting hard trance set. This was not the US festival Paul Oakenfold we were used to, but rather, the Paul Oakenfold of the late 90s that made him a legend. With jaws agape in shock, we danced for several more tracks, and then headed off to the side room to catch Daniel Kandi. We made it to the side room for the last few tracks of his set, starting off with Above and Beyond’s Good for Me as we finally made it through the crowd, and then headed off to stop #4. On the way out, we even ran into Indecent Noise.
I can’t say enough good things about the Hospitality party from Hospital Records at Paradiso (also sold out!), where we spent the majority of our night. We arrived in time to catch the second half of London Elektricity’s set. This venue was the MOST packed of the evening, with the craziest visuals complete with a huge illuminated, color-changing H, the most liberal use of a fog machine, and oddly, the youngest crowd. The air was so thick with sweat that it made the floor constantly slick. However, this just meant that we didn’t have to dump water on the floor to really be able to dance nonstop without our shoes sticking to dried spilled drinks. By this point, our toes were beginning to be pretty unhappy having endured 10 hours dancing over 2 days by this point, so the slick floor was the best thing ever! The smoother DNB/Liquid Funk was just what the doctor ordered in this hospital (ugh, we know… couldn’t help it!). Up next, the amazing Camo and Krooked brought the mood up a notch harder, with some hip hop remixes, and even their stellar remix of Raise Your Weapon (Camo and Krooked Remix). After they came on, the crowd chilled out again a bit for High Contrast (a personal favorite). We were able to skip up to the front of the event and, despite our weary feet, were able to get another hour of solid dancing to the smoother sounds of DNB. Now that we were able to look back at the crowd behind us, well lit from all the stage lighting, we were able to really see the magnitude of this party. Every nook and cranny was packed with a hopping, jumping, writhing body, sweaty beyond belief from dancing, truly moved by the music. There was no cynics in this crowd, only those that were truly feeling the music through every cell of their body.
We lose track of time overseas: Our internal clock off kilter, and our sense of urgency nonexistent, we truly got to get lost in the moment. This evening felt, all at once, too short and like 15 hours all wrapped into one amazing memory. At this point, we thought that this was the most epic night of our lives, a musical smorgasbord of all of the best bits of so many genres. However, this was still only night #2…
Journalist/blogger since 2009 and music lover since 1980. Bex now travels the world and writes and takes photos of dance events, creates art in various media, sings quietly to her cat in the shower, and occasionally builds something that tends to involve a blowtorch. She can usually be seen hiding behind some sort of camera rig.
